Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a vehicle system to provide access to a vehicle.
Description of the Background Art
Typical fuel engine vehicles are equipped with at least one battery to be able to start the combustion engine and to provide electrical energy to vehicle systems that are not completely powered off during the period that the vehicle is parked with the engine shut off. Examples of vehicle systems that need electrical power during parking are anti-theft alarm and the central locking system. With more and more electronic systems being implemented in the vehicle the amount of quiescent current drawn from the battery is therefore one important factor for the ability to restart the vehicle after a rest period of the vehicle.
The approach of the driver to the vehicle is usually not monitored by the vehicle because smart key systems, which can sense a vehicle key, consume too much electrical power to be monitoring for the key at all times. Instead, the user has to explicitly perform some action to wake up the vehicle system, such as touching the door handle. The door handle can include, for example, a capacitive sensor that returns a wake up signal for the central locking system upon touching the handle comprising the capacitive sensor. The central locking system can then check if an appropriate vehicle access key is in range. Only after being able to build up communication with the matching vehicle access key will the vehicle react to the required user action (e.g. for a keyless entry system, unlock the doors in case the handle was touched).